Hamilton County judge blocks Telemedicine Law for a 3rd time

Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Allison Hathaway has a notable pattern of presiding over cases when Planned Parenthood files suit in Hamilton County.
There are 16 Common Pleas judges in Hamilton County that could receive these cases and 87 other counties in Ohio where the cases could be filed.
See full article to note the other life-saving laws that this activist judge has blocked.

For a third time, Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Alison Hathaway has blocked the enforcement of Ohio’s Telemedicine law.

Ohio Senate Bill 260, the “Telemedicine Bill” was passed in 2020 and was schedule for implementation in spring 2021. Cincinnati Right to Life was directly involved in this legislation designed to protect women. Barry Sheets, a past lobbyist for Cincinnati Right to Life testified in favor of Senator Huffman’s bill, as well as CRTL current President, Rachel Citak, during her tenure for another organization. The original bill was written to prohibit physicians from conducting abortions or providing abortion-inducing drugs to a pregnant woman unless a physician is physically present. A provider could also be charged with a fourth-degree felony on the first offense and a third-degree felony for subsequent offenses, according to the language approved.

Unfortunately, the law was barely in effect when Judge Hathaway issued her first injunction in early 2021. In August 2024, she extended that injunction for a second time.

This week Judge Hathaway issued her third injunction on the law.

“The Amendment explicitly sets an applicable legal standard – one that places a stringent burden on the state,” the order reads. “Under the Amendment, patient health is the only state interest that an abortion regulation may constitutionally advance. Therefore, any restrictions on abortion must be narrowly tailored to further protect patient’s health and such restrictions must be the least restrictive means to advance the patient’s health in accordance with widely accepted and evidence-based standards.”

The State Medical Board receives hundreds of medication abortion “incident” reports each year from abortion facilities across the state. Many of these involve ectopic pregnancies, blood transfusions, and other serious health experiences. Facilities report women suffering for months with heavy bleeding only to be sent to an emergency room or for a surgical abortion. Our friends at Dayton Right to Life and Columbus Right to Life compile these reports and share them with Cincinnati Right to Life.

Cincinnati Right to Life and other prolife groups are asking the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) to re-examine the drugs guidelines.

It is also important to point out that Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Allison Hathaway has a pattern of presiding over cases when Planned Parenthood files suit in Hamilton County—even though there are 16 judges on that bench and 88 counties across Ohio where the abortion giant could choose to file. This repeated venue raises serious questions, especially when the laws being challenged are designed to protect both women and their preborn children.

This judge has a proven track record of blocking pro-life laws passed by Ohio lawmakers to protect women and the unborn. Among them is Senate Bill 157, which rightly prohibited physicians who are paid with state tax dollars—such as those working for public universities—from also performing abortions. She also blocked Senate Bill 27, a law requiring the humane treatment of the bodies of aborted children, acknowledging the dignity of their short lives. And now, Judge Hathaway halted enforcement of the Telemedicine Abortion Law, which was designed to safeguard women from the risks of chemical abortions prescribed without in-person medical evaluation.

Judge Allison Hathaway’s decision to block enforcement of Ohio’s Telemedicine Abortion Law is especially troubling when considered in light of recent data—including a study from the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC)—highlighting the serious risks associated with chemical abortion:

• The EPPC analysis covered 865,727 cases of mifepristone use between 2017 and 2023 and found that 10.93 % of those women experienced serious adverse events—such as infection, hemorrhage, sepsis, hospitalization, or surgery—within 45 days of taking the drug.
• This rate—approximately 11 %—is 22 times higher than the adverse event rate reported in earlier clinical trials and reflected on the FDA label, which estimate serious complications at less than 0.5 %
• Following the EPPC report, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered a “complete review” of mifepristone and indicated that the FDA label should be reconsidered in light of these findings.

In this context, Hathaway’s ruling strikes many as not only legally significant but potentially hazardous to public health—arguably denying Ohio women the very protections that lawmakers sought to enshrine by passing the Telemedicine Abortion Law.

Cincinnati Right to Life implores the Ohio Attorney General to immediately challenge Judge Allison Hathaway’s ruling, especially because of the alarming findings published in the recent EPPC report. The data shows that chemical abortions—often prescribed without in-person medical oversight—pose serious risks to women’s health, with adverse event rates as high as 11%.

Yet, Judge Hathaway continues to be the judge of record when Planned Parenthood sues to block pro-life protections in Hamilton County. It is disturbing that one activist judge repeatedly halts life-saving legislation passed by the people’s elected representatives. Ohio women and their preborn children deserve better—and they deserve justice.